Researchers have discovered a way to create a silicon feed additive for chickens which is both absorbable and useable.
Silicon is an essential ingredient for all farm animals, and can aid bone, hair, and feather growth, as well as improve respiratory development, skin health, and recovery from illness and injury.
While silicate minerals can be included as a feed additive, they are typically in a form that is difficult for birds to absorb or make use of.
By improving their understanding of how silicon is digested and used in the body on a chemical level, the research team from Nottingham Trent University in England, have been able to combine it with other key ingredients so that it can be used as a feed additive.
As the industry journal, thePoultrySite, reports, “Chickens were fed different doses of the silicon supplement to identify whether it was being absorbed by the body and reaching the target areas.” Noting that, “… not only did the amount circulating in the blood directly correspond with the amount offered in the feed, but the bones of the birds fed the supplement were stronger than those who were not.”
The significance of this discovery will be apparent to poultry farmers worldwide. As the Nottingham Trent University press release makes clear, “Chicken is the world’s most commonly consumed meat, with 50 billion birds produced each year. Lameness is recorded in about four percent of these, meaning the supplement could potentially benefit millions of individual birds a year.”
As Dr Emily Burton, Head of the Poultry Research Unit at Nottingham Trent University, states, “The skeletal challenges associated with the fast growth of modern strains of meat chicken made them a natural target for this new silicon feed supplement.”
Adding that, “Modern strains of meat chicken grow incredibly quickly and although poultry breeding companies now include leg strength among the traits they breed for, it is still a huge challenge to rear birds without lameness issues. The immaturity of the skeletal structure just struggles to support the muscle weight of the growing bird.”
The team have now published their results in the peer-review journal Scientific Reports, where they state that, “The novel monomeric form of silica developed by the authors is significantly more bioavailable in vitro compared with a range of commercially available formats.”
Additionally, they observed that, “The overall lack of impact of the silicon supplement on growth or feed intake ratio indicates that the palatability and overall performance of the diet was not affected by the inclusion of the silicon supplement.”
While the impact of the silicon feed additive isn’t huge it is still significant. As Carole Perry, Distinguished Professor and the Head of the Biomolecular Materials Interface Research Group, notes, “Even the smallest improvement in skeletal integrity of the world’s 50 billion chickens produced every year, will improve the welfare of millions of individual birds, and increase the production efficiency of the world’s most commonly consumed meat.”
But beyond birds, the team are now considering what impact their supplement may have outside of farming. Could the additive even be adapted for human consumption?
If so, then silicon additives may become common place in helping athletes have stronger bones or in recovering from injury. Older people may also benefit from the new process as a preventative aid against osteoporosis.
For now, poultry farmers and feed additive manufacturers are looking at ways to bring this new development to market. Given that chicken bone health is a major issue throughout the poultry and feed industries, then it will might not be long before this new feed additive will be seen as an essential part of a bird’s diet.
AG CHEMI GROUP has been supplying animal feed additives since 1994.
If you are interested in feed additive supplies or need animal feed raw materials, then please contact the friendly, multi-lingual sales team, or take a look at the AG CHEMI GROUP catalogue.
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Photo credit: thePrairieHomestead, Bentoli, thePoultrySite, & Chickenrehab.
